The Japanese are crazy for barcodes, and not just in shops – there’s a real market for user-created codes that can be scanned by mobile phones with suitable software, and the trend looks set to move westward. Of course, being one step ahead the Japanese are already looking at the stealth-deployment options, despite a lack of obvious commercial purpose – Fujitsu have invented a way to invisibly conceal barcodes in printed pictures and graphics. So how do you know you’re supposed to scan it?

Well, who’d have thought? I for one was completely unaware that the Russians once had a close equivalent to the space shuttle, which may in fact have been superior in some respects. Of course, the difference between the two that really cut the mustard was the most important one – the US actually managed to continue funding the development and use of theirs. Looking at these pictures and specs, though, it’s interesting to contemplate what might have been in different circumstances.

Your AI breakthrough meme-of-the-month has arrived. Stephen Thaler, creator of the ‘Creativity Machine’, has been working on autonomous robots for the USAF. In order to enable them to perform complex seek-and-evade tasks without human intervention, he is experimenting with the idea of using neural networks to train other neural networks. Thaler claims his swarms have demonstrated “humanlike capabilities”, but isn’t forthcoming on details at the moment. Let’s hope he’s not been assimilated by his own creations, eh?

The more objects that astronomers and cosmologists discover, the more contradictions and seemingly erroneous data turn up. The latest example is the catchily-named planet HAT-P1, which would appear to have a density considerably lower than a ball of cork. The experts are baffled by this phenomenon, but hope that further investigation may reveal the secrets of how such huge gas-giant planets are formed.

Claudia Mitchell is the first woman in the world to receive a first-generation bionic arm to replace the one she lost in a motorcycle accident. The limb responds to her thinking about moving it thanks to a technique that involves rerouting the nerves that controlled her arm and hand before, and using a sensor to pick up the impulses generated. This DARPA-funded project is the latest stage in a twenty year crusade to improve prosthetics – the next step is to enable sensory data to be returned to the user from the limb.